


Blood Is Thicker Then Water

by VenetaPsi



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Just Roll With It (Podcast)
Genre: A calm interlude, Adventurers, Arc 1 Spoilers, As calm as it can be for these guys, Br'aad learning to heal, Br'aad the Bard, Br'aad's Magic, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brothers, D&D, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Non-Canon Adventure, Not Canon Compliant, Party as Family, Sylnan being a good brother, The party getting into danger as always, Vauge Arc 2 Spoilers through ep 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenetaPsi/pseuds/VenetaPsi
Summary: “We need marching music!” Br’aad shouted, to an immediate amused smile from Velrisa and a shouted “NO!” from Mountain. Br’aad snapped his fingers and his little ball of a familiar appeared at his side, floating beside his head.“Sing with me, Liveclock! Ah one, two, three, four-”Sylnan looked down at the ground, scuffing the dirt with the tip of his boot and smiled.
Relationships: Br’aad Vengolor & Sylnan Vengolor
Comments: 9
Kudos: 90





	Blood Is Thicker Then Water

Sylnan stared down absently at the dagger in his hands, running the pad of his thumb gently up and down the smooth, polished metal. The worn leader of the handle set heavy in his palm; molded to perfectly fit his fingers through years of use.

The night was quiet around them; only the low drone of crickets and the gentle rustle of tree branches in the breeze breaking the stillness. The forest was dark, but even so the half-elf could see clearly; could see all of the gaps between trees and foliage in a kaleidoscope of gray and depth. 

A loud, breathy snort shattered the stillness, and Sylnan glanced down at Mountain; the dwarf curled up on his bedroll a few feet away, nose twitching as he inhaled nasally and burrowed deeper into his blankets before going still once more. Sylnan couldn’t help the smile that twitched at the corner of his lips. For all of the little dwarf’s ferocity, he was quite unthreatening in sleep. 

Sylnan flipped the knife over in his hand one last time, sweeping the forest warily. He was tired; he could feel the heaviness sinking into the back of his eyes, the need to rest pressing down upon him. 

He hadn’t realized he’d started to doze until a hand brushed his shoulder; startling him upright with a jolt. A quiet ‘shhh!’ right by his ear silenced him, and he glanced to the side to see Br’aad kneeling beside the rock Sylnan had claimed as his lookout chair. 

“Some guard you are,” Br’aad huffed lightly, voice barely above a whisper. “Sleeping on the job.” 

“I wasn’t sleeping,” Sylnan hissed back, clumsily returning his dagger to its sheath as Br’aad’s lips twitched into a grin; indulgent and amused. 

“Sure you weren’t,” He agreed easily, voice slightly mocking, and Sylnan resisted the urge to smack him. “This was nothing like the stakeout at the Nightenhawks manor.”

“That was one time!” Sylnan protested, fighting to keep his voice quiet, and genuine indignation bubbled up in his chest for a second before he caught the look in Br’aad’s eyes; soft and fond and  _ quite _ amused. “Oh you little shit.”

“Go sleep, Sylnan,” Br’aad ordered lightly; as though he were Sylnan’s keeper and not the other way around. The blonde nodded towards his own abandoned bedroll, on the edge of the camp beside Taxi’s curled up form. With an aggrieved sigh, to show exactly how put-upon Sylnan actually was, he rose to his feet, offering the rock to his brother as he stumbled over towards the bed. 

Maybe he really did need to sleep, he conceded as he all but collapsed onto the blankets, tugging his knees up towards his chest; one hand resting almost unconsciously on the hilt of his weapon even as he began to drift almost immediately. 

A few seconds passed, and right before Sylnan slipped away a faint light caught his attention. He rolled over slightly to look for the source, and his gaze settled on Br’aad. 

His brother was perched cross legged on the rock, hair messily held back in a thin braid that tumbled down his back. The light was coming from Br’aad’s fingertips; faint purple and gold sparks that flicked back and forth between his palms, danced as though he were playing some sort of idle, fidgety game with them. 

It was probably dangerous, making light in such a dark forest. Sylnan really ought to get up and scold him, warn him to cut it out. 

He finally fell asleep to the image of tiny dots of color forming shapes in the dark air. 

  
  
  


“I would like you all to know I think this is a very terrible idea,” Velrisa proclaimed. Her quiet voice cut through the silence as their group tramped through the woods, following the rough dirt path that wove its way between the trees. 

“Noted,” Mountain announced, and continued walking with exactly the same vigor as before, to exactly no one’s surprise. Sylnan glanced over at the tiefling, taking in her dark hair tied back with a tiny strip of leather and the pinched, determined set of her jaw. He took a step closer, prompting her to look over at him curiously. 

“What exactly don’t you like?” He asked, and upon receiving a glare hurriedly raised his hands in defense. “I’m just asking. Do you...like...sense stuff? With that magic shit of yours? Should we be worried?” The rogue gestured helplessly with his hands, trying to voice his question despite his utter lack of understanding for the cleric’s power. Her expression softened however, and he released a sigh of relief as she hummed consideringly, looking around at the woods. 

“I don’t,” she admitted, though Velrisa still looked as concerned as before. “That simply means there’s no...undead. We don’t know what we’re facing. And frankly, with us-” She gestured around towards their group with an open palm. “Nothing ever is simple.” 

Now that, Sylnan had to admit, was true. He wasn’t sure anything they’d ever done had been ‘simple’. Even now as they worked their way down the wooded-path towards the mines that a nearby village had hired them to check out, he had to admit they probably were going to end up fighting something. Or multiple things. Or taking down an underground ring of blood-bathing geckos. 

Each was equally likely, really.

“They’re offering good pay,” Sylnan finally offered with a shrug, and Velrisa sighed; as though she expected nothing less from him. Okay, sue him- money meant a lot in his eyes. A little ways up the path, Sylnan saw Taxi’s shoulders tense. The tabaxi hadn’t wanted them to ask for any money at all; had wanted to do this as a good deed. Sylnan took a deep breath and prepared himself for another moral argument about demanding money for services. 

Before another word could be spoken by anyone in the group, someone bounded up to Sylnan’s side, an arm sliding through his to rest in the crook of the rogue’s elbow. Sylnan glanced over to meet Br’aad’s sparkling green eyes and wide grin. 

_ “I _ think the real question here is why Hilltree is leading the way,” the half-elf declared, and Sylnan glanced towards the front of the group in confusion. Sure enough, the goblin was a few paces ahead of Mountain, making his way down the path with quick, sure steps. 

“Yeah, wait-” Sylnan piped up, looking around with sudden confusion. “Why  _ is _ Hilltree in front?” 

“Because  _ Hilltree, _ ” Velrisa sighed, “Actually asked the innkeeper for directions.”

“Not that you need directions,” Mountain grumbled from ahead, waving around at the trees and their narrow path with his unsheathed sword, the metal glinting in the sunlight. “It’s a straight fuckin’ path.” 

“It’s easy to get lost in the forest if you don’t have knowledge to go off of,” Taxi scolded the dwarf quietly. “Paths can be misleading, and all it takes is one stray step and it’s easy to-”

“Maybe for you, Cat,” Mountain grouched, and Sylnan bit down a smile as Taxi let out an indignant hiss before increasing his pace, stepping up to Mountain’s side and launching into a rant about ‘finding your way through nature’ that the dwarf immediately began to argue with. 

Hilltree raised his chin with a very proud, satisfied grin before continuing to walk briskly forward, and Sylnan couldn’t help but shoot the goblin a rather fond smile, even if it was to the creature’s back. Br’aad finally disentangled their arms, falling into step at Sylnan’s side, and for the first time it clicked for the half-elf what his brother had done. How he’d stepped in and smoothly distracted everyone from talk of money. 

“That was very clever,” He said suspiciously, glancing over at Br’aad who gave him a surprised, slightly baffled look. 

“Who, me?” the blonde asked, glancing around quickly as if there might be someone else Sylnan had spoken to. “I just asked a question.” 

Not for the first time, Sylnan gave his brother a searching look, and was met with only wide, curious eyes and a slightly self-conscious grin. 

“If you say so,” He finally conceded, and Br’aad hummed lightly in agreement before suddenly perking up, reaching to paw through his belt pouch. He pulled out his small wooden instrument- the ‘kazoo’, as he called it, and held it up triumphantly. 

“We need marching music!” Br’aad shouted, to an immediate amused smile from Velrisa and a shouted “NO!” from Mountain. Br’aad snapped his fingers and his little ball of a familiar appeared at his side, floating beside his head. 

“Sing with me, Liveclock! Ah one, two, three, four-”

Sylnan looked down at the ground, scuffing the dirt with the tip of his boot and smiled. 

  
  
  


Sylnan was not a particularly religious man. Nor had he ever been, even when his brother had been conversing with deities and every single one of his friends’ magical powers seemed to be birthed from some sort of godly force and his own goddamn deceased girlfriend was a  _ goddess. _

Now though he was cursing every single celestial name that came to mind- Katherine included, as he tore down the narrow mineshaft, hearing pounding feet chasing behind him. 

Sylnan didn’t know where anyone else bloody was; he had lost both his brother and Mountain in the panicked scatter as the tunnel had caved in, and Velrisa, Taxi and Hilltree had long since split up down another path. 

His lungs burned, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he rounded another corner, boots skidding on the hard clay of the mineshaft floor as he clenched his daggers tight; pumped both his arms and  _ ran. _

__ Of course they would’ve angered a fucking dragon. 

He could only hope that Br’aad had managed to get Mountain out safely; he knew his brother had the ability to slow their fall with magic, and hoped he’d managed to get whatever spell or force necessary out in time as the two had plummeted into the torn ground. Sylnan didn’t have the breath at the moment to consider ‘what if’s’- they were fine, he had to trust that. 

He had his own immediate safety to worry about. 

The dragon let out a roar behind him; scorching hot, sour breath rocketing down the tunnel and burning at Sylnan’s back, wrapping around him like a disgusting, humid cloud and leaving him coughing at the reek; stumbling blindly for a second as his eyes burned. He managed to round another corner and get out of the fog, glancing over his shoulder to see a mist of putrid yellow hanging in the air; likely poisonous or something, and he tried to put as much distance as he could between him and it- and the creature that had produced it. 

He knew he couldn’t fight a dragon on his own, not even a young one. Even his newly enchanted daggers weren’t strong enough for him to go mano-a-mano with a creature far bigger and far stronger than his puny mortal body. At this point, his only hope was to keep running and somehow,  _ miraculously  _ run into Vel, Taxi and Hilltree- Mountain and Br’aad were somewhere hundreds of feet further below ground, in whatever cavern had opened up when the floor shattered. 

His body was tiring however. He wasn’t strength, like Mountain, nor endurance. His lungs burned and his legs were shaking from the strain of his prolonged run, and Sylnan knew he wasn’t going to make it much further. He was either going to collapse, or slow to the point where the dragon would catch up. 

His heart thudded sporadically as he turned down another tunnel and saw a familiar sight ahead; the cavern where the dragon had erupted from stone, where his brother had fallen. Fuck, he’d gone in a circle. He was trapped, it was either run forward towards the giant hole and fall to his death or turn back and let the dragon maul him. 

Sylnan was not a religious person, but he gave a silent prayer to whoever was listening- to Katherine, that he wouldn’t have to be resurrected again, and charged forward. Behind him the dragon lunged, it's hot breath rushing around him and Sylnan felt a sharp, burning pain slash across his back- claws digging in as he threw himself forward over the empty air, over the cavernous hole in the ground. 

He plummeted downward, spinning in midair to see a beautiful beast of yellow and copper roaring down at him, shaking the cavern. He felt horrible pain sinking into his back and shoulders, spreading through his body, and his vision wavered. 

Velrisa was right, this had been a terrible idea. 

Sylnan heard a shout, saw stone rapidly approaching right as his vision went black. 

  
  
  


Br’aad, for the most part, had a relatively small shitlist. 

Relatively high on them were a couple of things; Ob’nock’shi for starters, and Un'goro right beside that. Whatever force had corrupted his Dad. The bitches at the orphanage that hounded him and his brother. Being stabbed was close after that. Right after being shot, poisoned, shanked, clawed, crushed-

But pretty fucking high on that shitlist was seeing his friends die. And Sylnan. 

He was really tired of seeing Sylnan die. 

Be it in reality, in his dreams, in flashbacks, in fucking dieties constantly bringing that moment back to the surface- 

Br’aad was fucking sick of it. 

So it was more than a little traumatizing to hear an earth shattering roar, to look up from Mountain’s crumpled form to see a dragon exploding from the cavern wall, claw outstretched. 

To see his brother plummeting downward, hundreds of feet, clothes torn and bloodsoaked. 

“SYLNAN!” He shrieked, and before he could really register his own movements he’d dropped Mountain, the dwarf lulling to the ground with a hard crack. He’d have time to feel bad about that later. Now, the bard lunged forward, hand outstretched- putting more force into a Feather Fall then he ever had before. 

The golden light exploded from Br’aad’s outstretched hand, shooting forward in a wave that momentarily pushed the shadows away, filled with cavern with a glow as the magic rocketed forward, wrapping its way around Sylnan’s limp body- too close to the ground for comfort. His descent slowed, until he was sinking gently towards the stone rather than falling, and Br’aad ran forward to catch Sylnan in his arms. 

His brother was pale, and he was unconscious in Br’aad’s arms, but the bard was very quickly distracted by another earth-shattering roar; looked up in time to see the dragon sinking its claws into the stonework and beginning to walk down the wall towards them. Its wings unfurled in a brilliant, coppery-gold, and Br’aad was struck with the sudden thought that the beast really was gorgeous. 

Sylnan stirred in his arms, and Br’aad glanced down to see his brother’s hooded dark eyes, the confusion in his expression. Sylnan’s lips slipped from a frown, to a weak smile. 

“...oh hey, Br’aad-” 

“Time to go!” Br’aad shouted, jumping up and setting Sylnan on his feet as the dragon let out a cry so loud the cavern shook, rocks and debris tumbling down the walls with concerning frequency. Sylnan stumbled, swaying slightly and Br’aad was momentarily concerned with how much blood he’d lost when Sylnan seemed to steady himself and look around wildly. 

“We have to get Mountain- over here, I caught him but he still hit the ground too hard-” Br’aad babbled, running towards their fallen dwarf friend as rocks slammed into the ground and the air began to smell sickly of hot dragon-breath. He slipped one arm under Mountain’s and hoisted him upward-  _ fuck _ was the tiny dwarf heavy- and Sylnan grabbed his other side, supporting the body between them. 

Br’aad looked around wildly and caught sight of a half-collapsed mine shaft about fifty feet away; the entrance clear enough for them to climb through, and he began to pull Mountain towards it. They stumbled forward, even as the air began to fill with a rancidly-yellow fog, and they reached the tunnel right as the dragon settled on the floor of the cavern, boulders plummeting from the sides to land around the beast with terrible ‘crashes’. 

Once they were through the gap, safely inside, Br’aad dropped Mountain’s arm and whirled, hand glowing a blinding white. A sharp  _ ‘crack’ _ resonated through the air, and the support beam at the front of the shaft snapped with a burst of light, sending piles of rubble crashing to the ground right as the dragon began to charge. The boulders sealed off the entrance with a cloud of dust that had both Vengolors coughing, and with that they were surrounded by darkness. 

It took a second for Br’aad’s darkvision to adjust; the light from his hand slowly fading out as he took a shuddering breath and looked around at their surroundings, at his friends. Sylnan sagged back against the mine wall, breathing hard and body trembling slights. Br’aad honestly wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion, adrenaline or pain. Each was kind of concerning. Mountain hung limp in Sylnan’s arms, barely supported. 

Br’aad quickly approached and pulled the dwarf away from his brother, lowering Mountain down towards the ground. His mind was practically buzzing; a slight ringing in his ears that he wasn’t sure actually existed- maybe he was imagining it. Either way, he rolled Mountain over and bent forward, pressing his palm down onto Mountain’s chest. 

“What- Br’aad, what are you doing?” Sylnan gasped, but Br’aad ignored him, pressing his hand down harder and shutting his eyes, trying to calm himself like Velrisa had taught him. 

_ “The focus is on giving,” She instructed gently, taking his hand in her own and flipping it over gently, pressing her fingers against the cut on his palm. “To heal you cannot be selfish. It is an act of entirely the opposite. You must clear yourself of your own emotions, your own pain, and focus on that of the other person’s.” _

_ “I’ll be able to...to save people, with this magic?” He asked quietly, and she gave him a soft, knowing, pitying look.  _

_ “You will, Br’aad,” She told him quietly, and he nodded, looking down at his spotless, uninjured hand. _

He took a deep, slow breath and pushed. Felt the warmth spark in his chest and flow through his arms, down into the palm of his hand, and he forced it through his fingers into Mountain, every inch of him willing him back, willing him healthy and strong. 

Mountain’s eyes flew open and he jolted awake with a gasp as Br’aad leaned back, opening his eyes and sinking onto his heels with a slow, tired, but happy sigh. He glanced to the side to see Sylnan staring; mouth agape as Mountain sat up, looking around in confusion. 

“What happened?” The dwarf yelled, eyes flickering across the group. “Did I pass out? Did Vel bring me back? Who’s ass do I have to kick!” 

“...Br’aad healed you,” Sylnan murmured, and Br’aad looked up with a jolt, shocked by the pure  _ wonder _ in his brother’s tone. Sylnan’s face was split into a slow, stunned smile, and Br’aad felt a strange jolt of warmth at the obvious approval settle deep in his chest. This was what he had wanted, back when he made that pack with Ob’nock’shi. To see Sylnan look at him like he had done something worthy of pride. Now he was finally getting that result, after telling Obi to go fucking himself to high hell and back. 

Br’aad was startled back to the present by Mountain clamoring to his feet, looking around the cavern in confusion. 

“I remember a dragon. Was there a fucking dragon?”

“There was a dragon,” Sylnan admitted, turning to face the dwarf, and Br’aad clumsily got to his feet, hating how weak healing still left him. He glanced around the mine shaft as Sylnan argued with Mountain that ‘no they should absolutely  _ not _ run out there and try to kick its ass’, and realized there was only one path for them to take. The other he’d conveniently sealed. 

“We should go find Vel and the others,” Mountain finally grumbled, reaching down and drawing his sword out of its sheath. The blade immediately lit up with flickering flames, illuminating the tunnel with a warm, reddish light. Sylnan nodded his agreement, wincing, and Br’aad quickly scanned his brother over. 

There were slashes in his back from the dragon’s claws, but they seemed relatively shallow, and Sylnan had enough color in his cheeks that Br’aad didn’t think he was going to bleed out. Again. He could probably manage one more heal if it got to that point, but he’d rather let Vel do it. Sylnan glanced up at him and gave him a resolute nod, and with a strange sensation, Br’aad turned to take point. 

Br’aad wasn’t used to going first, but the little balls of colored light he could summon and keep a few feet ahead of them made him the prime candidate for leading. Mountain stayed in the middle, glowing sword at the ready, and Sylnan took flank, both of his daggers drawn and poised,, glancing periodically into the dark behind them. 

They walked for a long while until Br’aad heard a sound in front of them; a miracle on its own, as he rarely noticed things and the sound was  _ faint _ , and he whirled to the others, making ‘shushing’ gestures with his hands. He waved his hand, dispersing his little orbs of light, and Mountain closed his hand around the gem at the hilt of the sword, causing the fire to flicker off until darkness swirled around them once more. 

Br’aad tilted his head, listening as his darkvision slowly adjusted to fill out the shapes of the tunnel, and he could make out the sounds of voices; multiple tones, though he couldn’t tell what they were saying. 

“Multiple people,” he hissed to the other two. “What do we do?”

“Wait?” Sylnan whispered at the exact same moment Mountain ground his teeth and announced, “Go fucking jump them?”

“We can’t just  _ jump _ them, Mountain!” Sylnan whispered in irritation. Br’aad leaned away from them, tilting his head in the hopes that somehow that might help him hear better. 

“Well why fucking not? You’re the one who likes surprise attacking people, thief.” 

Br’aad snapped his fingers and Liveclock appeared at his side. He leaned close to his little familiar, pointing down the tunnel. 

“Go check it out, buddy,” he whispered, and Liveclock let out a growly soft  _ ‘check it out, buddy’ _ before zooming down the hall. Br’aad closed his eyes, blocking out Sylnan and Mountain’s whispering as he honed in on Liveclock, slipping into the eyes of his familiar. 

Immediately the voices of his friends vanished as his senses took on those of Liveclock’s as he shot down the tunnel, towards the direction of the sound that now were footsteps; intermixed with periodic, soft voices. It wasn’t long before Liveclock got close enough that Br’aad was able to make out the gentle tone of Velrisa and the squeaky nervousness of Hilltree. 

“It’s the others- Vel and them,” He announced, flying back into his body with a ramming sensation as all of his own senses flooded back. He snapped his fingers, safely sending Liveclock back to wherever he stayed, and turned back to the other two. 

“Well then, let’s go!” Mountain declared impatiently, and set off down the hall, nearly running. Br’aad took off jogging to catch up, Sylnan at his heels. 

“When did you learn to heal?” Sylnan asked softly as they ran, and Br’aad glanced over at him in confusion. Was this really the time for this conversation?

“I had Velrisa teach me,” He mumbled back, swiping a loose strand of blond hair out of his eyes. The rounded a corner, growing closer to the voices that cut off suddenly, presumably hearing their pounding footfalls. “I was tired of feeling useless.” 

Sylnan opened his mouth to say something, brow furrowing, but at that moment the three of them rounded a corner and came face to face with the rest of their party; Taxi’s hand glowing, Velrisa’s warhammer raised and Hilltree determinedly pointing his scimitar outward. 

“Woah- just us,” Sylnan announced, holding up his hands as they all skidded to a stop, and Br’aad watched the other three deflate in relief. 

“Next time  _ shout _ or something!” Taxi complained, the green light around his hand vanishing. “We thought you guys were dangerous.”

“I  _ am _ dangerous,” Mountain argued, and Br’aad couldn’t help but smile, something around his heart that had been clenched suddenly loosening. 

“Look at us, the whole band back together!” he announced, stepping forward towards the center of the group, feeling bubbly and warm as everyone looked relatively unharmed. Hilltree ducked between his legs and ran to give Sylnan a hug. “Oh, Vel- Sylnan could use some of your healy fingers.

Velrisa stepped past him, reaching out a hand toward Sylnan to inspect his wounds. Br’aad watched his brother untangle himself from Hilltree’s grasp and rise to his feet, turning to show their cleric his injured back. Br’aad winced at the bloody wounds, but Vel just laid her hand gently against Sylnan’s shoulder, and a soft white light spread across her fingertips, mending the slashes slowly as it spread outward down Sylnan’s back. 

When she stepped away, Sylnan turned and rolled his shoulders, giving her a grin and a quiet ‘thanks, Vel’.

“I think we should leave,” Taxi announced. “We are not equipped to fight a  _ dragon. _ Maybe we could come back, better prepared- but right now, if we try to fight that thing, we’re going to die.”

“We’ve fought worse,” Sylnan mumbled, but for once, Br’aad was prone to agree with the tabaxi. Already they’d had one person in their group go down, and another get injured, and that was all while  _ running _ from the thing. The life of their group wasn’t worth the money. 

“I think we should go too...” He announced, and Taxi gave him a surprised, but grateful look. After a second, Vel nodded as well, sweeping their party with one of her calm, serious gazes. 

“I agree as well. We aren’t ready to fight a dragon. At least not before resting first. Sylnan and Mountain are still in rough shape, if not immediate danger. I think we should go.”

“We’re just...just abandoning them then? The townsfolk? This be their mine- they hired us to fix the problem!” Hilltree’s voice almost gave Br’aad pause, and he looked down at the goblin leaning against Sylnan’s leg. 

“But it’s not worth you or any of the rest of the group getting hurt, Hilltree,” Br’aad said, hearing his own voice come out unnaturally soft as he bent down to the goblin’s level. 

“...oh.” Hilltree responded after a second of shocked silence, and he huddled a little closer to Sylnan- almost shyly. 

“...are we going then?” Mountain asked, sounding begrudgingly accepting. Taxi exchanged a look with Velrisa and nodded, and Sylnan shrugged when eyes were turned on him, glancing back down the path they’d came. 

“Guess we’re leaving then.” 

“Guess we are,” Br’aad agreed.

  
  
  


Sylnan leaned back in his chair, staring down at the tankard resting against his palm. They’d returned to the village and told them that the reason people kept disappearing in the mines was due to a dragon. Even though they hadn’t fixed the problem, the tavenkeeper had still tried to thank them and give them gold for their trouble of going up to look; which Sylnan appreciated. 

His back still smarted if he pressed against something too hard or turned his shoulder in a bad way. Velrisa told him it would probably be fine by morning, but the aching had started to drive him mad; only now finally dulling thanks to the amount of alcohol sitting warm and heavy in his stomach. 

Mountain and Velrisa sat across the table from him, conversing with Hilltree over drinks (or water, in Vel’s case). Sylnan was too tired to really join in on whatever the fuck they were talking about, but no one really seemed to mind. He swept his gaze over the small, but relatively crowded tavern, catching sight of Br’aad and Taxi in the corner. 

They were playing their instruments together, and what they lacked in perfect skill was made up in enthusiasm and Br’aad’s energy. They had gathered quite a crowd that was dancing in time to their fiddly tune; clapping and whirling and swinging one another around, and Sylnan registered that Br’aad looked happy; cheeks pink, hair wild and green eyes gleaming with a soft, pleased glow. 

The blonde that stood across the room felt so different from the Br’aad that Sylnan held in his memories; younger, more naive. Purple-eyed and blazing with a magic that honestly scared Sylnan. Burning with a youthful thirst to prove himself and drowning in daddy-issues Sylnan could equally relate to. 

Now, his little brother looked content; sparkling with a golden energy that was softer, more his own magic then the harsh purple of Ob’nock’shi had ever been.

And a few hours later, when Br’aad and Taxi drifted over, and Br’aad sunk into the chair beside Sylnan; laughing and giddy, Sylnan reached out and grasped Br’aad’s hand. 

“I’m proud of you, little brother,” He whispered, watching Br’aad’s face go slack with shock before his cheeks reddened slightly, and the softest, most genuine small smile Sylnan had ever seen graced his face. 

“Yeah?” He asked, glowing, and Sylnan smiled back. 

“Yeah.” 


End file.
